La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox

In 2015, La Flor Dominicana released another cigar blended by Tony Gomez, son of owner Litto Gomez. The new 6 1/2 x 50 toro was named La Nox—which translates to the night from Latin—and featured a Cuban-seed Brazilian maduro wrapper leaf covering a Mexican San Andrés binder and filler tobaccos from the company’s Estancia La Flor de Palma farm in the Dominican Republic. The packaging was unique as well, consisting of a black round box that used magnets to keep it closed instead of traditional hinges.

One year later during the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, La Flor Dominicana introduced a second vitola in the same blend, the Petite La Nox. Measuring 5 x 40, the smaller brother to the La Nox is packaged in five-packs that retail for $7 each.

There is no other way to say it, the combination of black pepper, maple sweetness and a great vitola in the La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox really makes for an extremely enjoyable cigar, and one that also features an excellent balance between flavor and strength. The amount of sweetness that is present throughout this blend—and this vitola in particular—is almost unbelievable and it coats not just your palate, but every other flavor that is present as well. I really loved the first incarnation—everyone at halfwheel had to, for it to take the number two spot in our Top 25 last year — and this version easily continues that trend: a great blend in a wonderful vitola that everyone should try as soon as possible.

As with the first samples, this example of the La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox is covered in an almost shockingly dark espresso brown wrapper that is extremely rough to the touch. There is a touch of oil present, and there are a number of prominent veins running up and down the length. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of sawdust, earth, sweet raisons, black pepper, sweet cedar and manure, while the cold draw brings flavors of cinnamon, dark fruit sweetness, yeast, raisins, espresso beans and black pepper.

Starting out, the La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox features one flavor that is obviously more dominant than the rest, namely a rich almond note, followed by lesser flavors of earth, ground coffee, anise, espresso beans, leather and cinnamon. There is plenty of black pepper on the retrohale and spice on my tongue, but both are nicely balanced with a wonderful maple syrup sweetness that is present in profile. This continues until just after the halfway point, when it changes to an interesting cherry sweetness that becomes more and more prevalent in the profile until it takes over one of the top spots around the start of the final third. In addition, the final half of the La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox also sees the black pepper on the retrohale recede just a bit, along with the addition of cocoa nibs, creamy oak and hay.

In terms of construction, the La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox is fantastic, with both an excellent draw that features just the right amount of resistance as well as a close to razor sharp burn line that only needs to be corrected once. There is plenty of dense, white smoke that smells quite a bit like oak. The overall strength is noticeable without being overwhelming, and ends up just above the medium mark by the time I put the nub down with a little less than an inch to go after 49 minutes of smoking time.

Update: The original version of this review contained incorrect biographical information about Tony Gomez.

La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox

Brooks Whittington

May 8, 2017

91/10

The La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox was an excellent cigar when I first reviewed it and it has only gotten better with a little rest. The maple sweetness is still quite prevalent, but unlike the first go-around, it morphs into more of dark cherry sweetness in the second half. Construction was excellent overall and the strength was nicely balanced, hitting a point just north of the medium mark. A great blend in a great vitola that will continue to improve over time.

91Overall Score

The La Flor Dominicana Petite La Nox was an excellent cigar when I first reviewed it and it has only gotten better with a little rest. The maple sweetness is still quite prevalent, but unlike the first go-around, it morphs into more of dark cherry sweetness in the second half. Construction was excellent overall and the strength was nicely balanced, hitting a point just north of the medium mark. A great blend in a great vitola that will continue to improve over time.

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.